Redon, Odilon (1840-1916)
Naissance de Vénus (Birth of Venus)
c.1912
Pastel on paper mounted on cardboard, 82 x 62 cm
Petit Palais, Paris
Associated somewhat reluctantly with Symbolism, Odilon Redon began his career as a creator of monochrome works, charcoals or lithographs, which he called his “blacks”.
The colour only reappeared in his work around 1894, particularly with the use of pastels – a medium close to charcoal in its powdery and smooth aspect, as well as its great fragility – which enabled him to produce this new, violent chromatic intensity.
While the artist occasionally worked once again in the colour of his old “blacks” (Le Vieil Ange/The Old Angel), he also focussed on subjects new to him, such as the birth of Venus, butterflies, or bouquets of flowers, in which iridescent skies and water, mother of pearl, diapered wings and silky petals are such a superb match for the very material of pastel.
More precisely, this Birth of Venus dates from around 1912, during which time Redon had the model Alphonsine Zabé pose nude in his studio, as recommended by Maurice Denis. (Petit Palais)